In announcement news today, Lionsgate has just set Greta Gerwig’s Best Picture-nominated film Ladybird for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 3/6. Extras will include audio commentary with Gerwig and cinematographer Sam Levy along with the Realizing Lady Bird featurette. You can see the cover artwork at left and it’s available for pre-order below.

Warner Archive just thrilled Batman fans with a Valentine’s Day tease that they’re working on a new Blu-ray edition of the animated Batman vs. Mr. Freeze: SubZero Blu-ray. We don’t have a street date yet, but it’ll be a very nice appetizer until Warner Archive releases they’re forthcoming Batman: The Animated Series Blu-ray set later this year. Our hats off to everyone at the Archive; they’re killing it with these releases. [Read on here…]

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has announced the 4/10 Blu-ray and DVD release of Outlander: Season Three. All 13 episodes will be included, along with 27 deleted and extended scenes (with introductions by execuitive producer Ronald D. Moore), a gag reel, and 2 featurettes (A Traveling Show Takes Sail and The Transformation of Geillis Duncan). There will also be a Limited Collector’s Edition Blu-ray set with exclusive content that includes an additional deleted scene, Outlander podcast commentaries for each episode, and 4 additional featurettes (Clarie & Jamie: Together Again, Jamie’s Revolution, Claire: Through Time, and Saying Goodbye to Frank and Jonathan Randall). The Limited Edition also comes in special packaging with a 28-page collector’s booklet. You can see the cover artwork (and pre-order them) below.

And Kino Lorber has announced that they’re working on new Studio Classics Blu-ray and DVD releases of Ida Lupino’s The Bigamist (1953) and George Cukor’s A Bill of Divorcement (1932).

Also, here’s cool news on the hardware front: Panasonic has just announced a new flagship model of 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player - the DP-UB9000. We don’t have an SRP or a street date beyond the second half of this year, but it will support HDR10+ and Dolby Vision, has Panasonic’s latest Hollywood Cinema Experience (HCX) processor, will offer a dedicated audio power supply, a vibration-reducing chassis, a balanced XLR out and other features designed to appeal to audiophile enthusiasts. It will also add Alexa and Google Assistant voice control via eventual firmware updates. It seems to me this is a response to the outstanding audiophile and enthusiast 4K UHD players from Oppo Digital, which we use here at The Bits and which are excellent. Great to see there are more offerings in this category. Here’s what the DP-UB9000 looks like...

All right, we’ll leave you with a look a couple of the titles mentioned above (click on the covers to pre-order on Amazon.com)…

In announcement news today, Universal has officially set Craig Gillespie’s twisted comedy I, Tonya for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 3/13, with the Digital release expected on 3/2. The film stars Margo Robbie and Allison Janney. It’s quite good.

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will release the anime Batman Ninja on Blu-ray and DVD on 5/8. The BD will include English dubbed audio as well as the original Japanese audio with English subtitles. Strangely, there are also plans to release it in 4K but digitally only this summer, not on 4K UHD Blu-ray. That seems like a mistake to me, but I suppose that if the Blu-ray sells well the studio could reconsider. Extras will include 3 featurettes (East/West Batman, Batman: Made in Japan, and New York Comic Con Presents Batman Ninja). The Blu-ray will also be available in regular and Steelbook versions. [Read on here…]

Warner and TNT have also set Claws: The Complete First Season for DVD only release on 4/17.

And Warner and the BBC are releasing Doctor Who: Tom Baker – The Complete First Season on Blu-ray on 3/20.

Paramount has officially announced their Up in Smoke: 40th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray Combo for release on 4/10. There will also be a Deluxe Collector’s Edition version of the Blu-ray that includes the original soundtrack on both CD and LP (including a newly-recorded Up in Spoke: 2018 Version), as well as a 7-inch picture disc of Earache My Eye/Lost Due to Incompetence, an 11x17 poster, a booklet with new essays by both Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong, and oversized rolling papers. All versions will also include the existing special features along with the all-new How Pedro Met the Man: Up In Smoke at 40 featurette.

Lionsgate will release The Sandman: Don’t Fall Asleep on DVD only on 3/6. They’ve also set The Last Movie Star, featuring Burt Reynolds and Chevy Chase, for release on Blu-ray and Digital on 3/27.

Well Go USA has announced Kickboxer: Retaliation for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital on 3/13.

MVD is releasing Abominable on Blu-ray on 6/12 as part of their Rewind Collection.

Cinedigm will release Scorched Earth on Blu-ray and DVD on 3/6.

Kino Lorber Studio Classics is releasing The Maze (1953) on Blu-ray 3D on 4/24. They also have Camp Nowhere (1994) coming to Blu-ray and DVD on 4/17. And on 4/10, look for The Psychopath (1966) and Manhandled (1924). They also have new Blu-ray and DVD editions of A Bill of Divorcement (1932) coming soon.

Here’s something interesting: Kino has also set a Blu-ray release of Arnold Fanck’s The Holy Mountain (1926) for release on 4/24. [Editor’s Note: We’d previously reported that this was the Jodorowsky film based upon an error in the Amazon listing. It’s definitely the 1926 Fanck film, which stars Leni Riefenstahl. Adjust your plans accordingly.] They have Emir Kusturica’s Underground coming on Blu-ray and DVD on 2/20 too, including both the 170-minute feature film version and also the 327-minute/6-part TV version.

Mill Creek has announced their April slate, which is set to include For the Love of Benji (BD/DVD), Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century: The Complete Series (DVD), Getting Gotti (DVD), Human Trafficking (DVD), a Charles Bronson Collection (BD – with The Valachi Papers, The Stone Killer, Breakout, and Hard Times), the Sherlock Holmes film A Study in Terror (BD), Kevin Bacon: The 6 Degrees Collection (BD – with The Big Picture, Flatliners, Hollow Man, Trapped, In the Cut, and Where the Truth Lies), and a Mother, May I Sleep with Danger? double-feature (DVD). Street date appears to be 4/3 for all. [Editor’s Note: It’s worth noting that we believe the Bronson Collection marks the first time that Hard Times has been released on Blu-ray.]

And for UK readers, Eureka! has set Early Hou Hsiao-hsien: Three Films 1980-1983 for release on Blu-ray on 4/16. The films included are Cute Girl, The Green, Green Grass of Home, and The Boys from Fengkuei.

Finally today, we’re pleased to offer you the very first full episode of our new Talking Blu with The Digital Bits YouTube roundtable webcast collaboration with our friends at Midnight’s Edge! We plan to do at least a couple of these each month, talking about a variety of Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD issues, as well as movie news and other subjects. In this first episode, Tim and I are joined by André Einherjar and Tom Connors, Jr. to discuss Warner’s forthcoming home video release of Justice League. We hope you enjoy it and (if you do) please share it with your friends on social media! Here you go...

FYI, I’ve been busy with server work these last couple weeks, but I’m diving back into disc reviews myself as well – on both Blu-ray and 4K – so watch for more of those starting tomorrow. [Read on here…]

In announcement news, we mentioned yesterday that Paramount was releasing the Grease: 40th Anniversary Edition on 4K Ultra HD on 4/24. No sooner did we post then the studio’s official press release came in. The disc will include the film in full native 4K scanned from the original negative in a process supervised by director Randal Kleisner, including an HDR color grade, and a new Dolby TrueHD 5.1 sound mix created from the original 70 mm 6-track audio elements. Both the 4K disc and its enclosed Blu-ray edition will feature this new restoration, along with all the legacy Blu-ray special features. Newly-created for this release will be the Grease: A Chicago Story featurette, new alternate animated main titles and an alternate ending. There will also be a separate Blu-ray release in Digibook packaging and a Grease Collection: Anniversary Edition on Blu-ray that same day that includes the Grease: 40th Anniversary Edition, Grease 2, Grease: Live on BD. This would be the first time that Grease 2 has ever been released on BD. You can see the 4K cover art above left.

Also today, we’ve now gotten confirmation from retailers that Warner is planning to release a new 4K Ultra HD version of The Matrix – at least the original film. Look for that in May or June, after the release of Warner’s 2001: A Space Odyssey 4K UHD release, currently expected in April. We would expect to see official announcements by the studio in the coming weeks.

And in regular Blu-ray news, Kino Lorber has announced the Studio Classics release of more DePatie/Freleng animated titles on Blu-ray and DVD on 4/24, including The Dogfather (1974-75) and Misterjaw (1976-77). The former will be a single disc release with 17 animated shorts, while the latter is a 2-disc set with 34 shorts. Extras will include audio commentaries and new documentary featurettes. You can see the cover artwork below.

Look also for the Paramount western titles Trigger, Jr. (1950) and Singing Guns (1950) on Blu-ray and DVD on 4/17, mastered from new 4K scans. And on 4/24 look for Trapeze (1956), Ruby Gentry (1952), and A Woman’s Devotion (1956) on Blu-ray and DVD from Kino.

Meanwhile, Kino and Code Red have also set The Bone Yard (1991) for Blu-ray release on 4/3.

Here’s a look at the cover artwork for a couple of the titles mentioned above (click on the images to pre-order them on Amazon, if available)…

A number of you have asked today if CBS has any plans to release the recently completed first season of Star Trek: Discovery on Blu-ray and DVD. Nothing has been announced yet, but keep in mind that any release that might be planned would almost certainly not street until Season Two of the show was close to airing on CBS All Access (and Netflix internationally). That’s usually the pattern that’s followed for such things. So while it’s possible we could see an announcement of a home release soon, more likely it won’t happen until much later in 2018 or early 2019. The second season is expected to begin shooting in April.

Indicator Films has set The New Centurions (1972), Hardcore (1979), Gumshoe (1971), and Town on Trial (1957) for Blu-ray release in the UK on 3/19. These are all region free Blu-rays, so you can safely import them to the US. In fact, they’re up for pre-order on Amazon.com now. Indicator is also releasing The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre (1967), The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972), Little Murders (1971), and Suddenly, Last Summer (1959) on Blu-ray in the UK on 4/23, but those are all Region B locked.

Kino Lorber and Scorpion Releasing have just announced that they’re releasing Caravan to Vaccares (1974) on Blu-ray and DVD on 4/24.

On the 4K front, we’re getting reports from European retailers that Fox may be preparing a new Die Hard: 30th Anniversary Edition for release on 4K Ultra HD this summer (the actual anniversary is 7/15, so likely around then).

It hasn’t been officially announced yet, but we’re hearing from enough retailers to consider it likely: Paramount is releasing a Grease: 40th Anniversary Edition on 4K Ultra HD on 4/24. We don’t have any other details yet, but we’ve updated our 4K Ultra HD Release List here at The Bits accordingly.[Update: The title has just been officially announced: Full details and artwork to come in tomorrow’s Bits post.]

Also, while a 4K release hasn’t been announced here in the States, Europe and Canada appear to be getting a 4K Ultra HD release of The Phantom Thread.

And finally today, Fabulous Films in the UK is releasing the Universal TV titles Northern Exposure: The Complete Series (3/19) and Quantum Leap: The Complete Collection (now available, streeted 1/29) on Blu-ray in the UK, and we have reason to believe they plan to release Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Columbo, and Murder She Wrote on BD as well. These titles are Region B locked, just FYI.